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Monday, August 20, 2012

Tutorial: Make a Kerchief for a Shelter Dog in Need

Hi readers! As promised, today is the first tutorial on how to help animals in need at Pets Alive, where we adopted our dear Rosie. In honor of the publication of my first book, we're having a drive to help the animals at Pets Alive with sewn items.

Jeff and I have adopted 3 shelter animals, and we've never been so impressed by a facility. Pets Alive is committed to providing a no-kill sanctuary for animals in need, from all over the country--for as long as they need it, i.e. life. (Rosie came from Puerto Rico. She had 3 babies on a highway roadside and then Pets Alive turned her life around--and ours!)

One of major sewn needs of Pets Alive is kerchiefs for the doggies. This may seem a little silly, I grant you. But the kerchiefs are used for two important purposes: first, as "adopt me" kerchiefs for pets to wear at adoption events. Secondly, as festive "I'm adopted!" kerchiefs to wear when taken home. When we finalized the paperwork to adopt Rosie, she was dressed up in a fancy kerchief (in a sparkly cupcake print), the adoption bell was rung, and we had a family portrait taken. That cupcake kerchief is now a prized possession. (I get a little weepy when I think about it, to be honest.)

So let's talk about how we can sew kerchiefs for our doggie friends! I've tried a few methods, and my favorite way is to make a two-layer kerchief. Making a narrow hem on a single-layer kerchief is an option, but it gets fiddly around those sharp angles. A two-layer kerchief creates a nice clean finish, while eliminating hemming. Hooray!

Here is your size chart, carefully devised by the human and canine experts at Chez Gertie. As you can see, there's measurement A and measurement B for each size. For reference, Rosie weighs 17 pounds and wears a size Small. An Extra Small will fit a puppy or tiny adult, while an Extra Large should fit the biggest breeds. Your average adult lab or shepherd will likely wear a Large.

You're going to start by laying out a double fold of fabric, folding selvage-to-selvage. Next, draw a line equaling Measurement A along the fabric's straight grain.

Next, mark the center of this line. Then, use a ruler to measure up the amount of Measurement B and make another mark.

Next, connect that mark to the two ends of line A, making a triangle. (Apologies for the wrinkly fabric.)

Now, cut out along your lines. This will give you two triangles.

Pin the triangles together, right sides together.

Sew, using a 1/4" seam allowance, all around the triangle--BUT, leaving a 4 inch opening on the long edge.

Now, cut down the three corners to eliminate bulk.

Turn the triangle right side out, poking out the corners. (It helps to use a pin to pick out the corners from the right side.) Press the whole thing, turning in the 1/4" seam allowance on the 4 inch opening.

Pin the opening closed.

Edgestitch all the way around the triangle. I like to use my Bernina #10 foot to get a perfect 1/8" edgestitch.

If you're making a festive quilting-cotton kerchief, you're done! If you're making an "adopt me" kerchief, you'll want to add the text. Download this file, which has text in three different sizes. Print the file "as is" on your ink jet transfer paper. Follow the package directions to ensure that you're printing correctly. You will notice that the text in the file is backwards; this is intentional.

Cut out around your desired size, leaving minimal paper outside the text. (I used the smallest text for a size Small kerchief.)

Now, place the text face-down on the right side of your kerchief.

Press with a hot iron until it's fully adhered. Let cool for a minute, and then peel off the backing.

Voila! A finished kerchief.

That's it! Not bad, huh? Please make as many as you're able (and of course make a fun printed one for the doggies in your life to wear!) and send them to:

Hi Angela! Their usual system is to use "adopt me" kerchiefs for adoption events, and then dogs get a special new kerchief in a fun print (no text) for going home. I like the idea of doing a reversible one though--"adopt me" on one side and "i'm adopted" on the other. I'll get to work on it!

I wondered the same thing....is their kerchief different when going to a furever home.Such a sweet idea and nice sewing tutorial. A simple process for beginners and anyone wanting to learn to sew!Great job Gertie!Oh yeah, you and your husband are such lookers :0)

Ah! What a timely post. We are currently fostering a puppy that we found roaming the streets of Memphis and Saturday is his first appearance at the adoption day at our local pet food store. He's going to be wearing one of these for sure!

Thanks for this tutorial!! I had been looking for a good one to make kerchiefs for the dogs in my life and this was perfect. I wrote about it at http://www.agirlcallederika.com/2013/04/dog-scarf.html. Thanks again!